We checked out tickets to find that Rodney was also on our huge international flight home. Not only that, when we boarded the plane Rodney and I found ourselves seated right next to each other! What are the chances? As we talked and became friends, we knew the Father was up to something.
In September 2015, I was asked by my friend Ian Campbell, who is the missions pastor of a local church near Messiah, to come with him to Smara refugee camp in Algeria. The trip seemed random to me and outside the focus of my normal ministry -even though I'd love to go, I didn't want to go for the wrong reasons. But the Father confirmed that he wanted me to go. While a friend was praying for me, he heard the Lord saying that I would soon get a plane ticket to go with a couple friends to a country where we would love and bless people, and this trip would be outside my normal ministry. He had no knowledge of my invitation to go to Algeria.
During that fall, I told Rodney Green I was going to Algeria in December. When I mentioned Smara refugee camp, he couldn't believe it. He has a friend who works in that camp, and Rodney had already planned to visit him in May to research future projects for Messiah. We were both surprised because it's not a place many foreigners ever travel. Not only that, Smara is one of five refugee camps in that area, a massive area with 165,000 refugees.
So in December 2015, I went to Smara, Algeria with Ian, my brother Logan, and my good friend Juan Guzman. While walking through the massive camp one day, we noticed a few blue-eyed, blonde-haired, white children playing outside a house. Since we thought we were the only white people in the camp, we approached the house to figure out who this foreign family was. It turned out to be Adam and Laura Vannood, workers with Not Forgotten International. We were amazed to "stumble" upon this American family serving the Sahrawi people in one of the harshest environments on earth, a refugee camp in the Sahara Desert.
I introduced myself to Adam Vannoord, telling him I worked at Messiah College. Excited he said, "No way! One of my best friends also works at Messiah College!" "What's his name?", I asked. "Rodney Green", he responded. None of us could believe this mutual connection! Though the camp was massive, filled with thousands of people, the Vannoord's live only a stones throw from the Sahrawi family we were staying with. Another crazy "coincidence"!
Then, in February 2016, two months after my trip to Algeria, we received the bad news that our AROMA trips to Central America had to be cancelled because of violence and the Zika Virus. Though we were sad, we also realized that the Father was rerouteing us to a different nation -Algeria!
The stars were beginning to align -and we simply could not ignore another random "coincidence". The AROMA team had been selected months earlier. Rodney Green was already traveling to Algeria in May. I had just returned from the exact same place -using sports to build trusting relationships with these refugees who are 99% Muslim.
I don't believe in coincidence; I believe in Providence! It seemed that the Father had been planning this AROMA trip to Algeria for the past year, we just didn't realize it!
We often get so caught up in our own plans, schedules, and itineraries that we completely miss what the Father is trying to do. There's nothing wrong with making a plan, just don't let it fool you into thinking that you are in control. The Father is in control. His plan is better. All we have to do is trust Him and follow where He is leading.
To be honest, I don't completely know why The Father led AROMA to Algeria. But I trust Him. And in the end, I'd rather follow Him than follow my own plans.
-Danny
